JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Jacksonville, Florida, man said he thought he was helping another man retrieve thousands in lottery winnings, but instead that man took $32,000 of the victim's money and left.
"Now I can't trust anybody. I can't trust nobody now," the victim said. "This changes my way of life."
The victim, who is not being named, said he now wants to make sure no one else falls victim to the same scam he did.
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office released a picture of the suspect that was captured in a Home Depot in Arlington.
That's where the man approached the victim, saying he had a winning lottery ticket and needed $40,000 to collect the total winnings.
The victim said he thought the man was desperate, so he offered his savings of $32,000. Another man — believed by police to be a second suspect — offered his savings of $8,000, according to JSO.
The victim said he's a Christian and thought he was helping someone in need when he handed over his life savings.
"He came to me very like sad and asking me for a favor, and he said, 'Tu hablas Espanol?' and I said, 'Yes, I do speak Spanish,'" the victim said.
The victim said the man also started talking with another man in the store, telling them he needed help getting papers. When they asked him why, the man told them both he had a winning lottery ticket, but didn't know how much it was worth.
The victim said the other man got on the phone to find out, and said this when he hung up:
"There is a problem because we need money to claim this ticket."
The victim said he didn't know nothing about it and then the other man offered $8,000 in cash but said that wouldn't be enough.
"He said, 'We have to help this guy, because this is a lot of money in this lottery, but do you have some money in your house? Savings in your house?'" the victim said. "That was my mistake, my error, because I told him it's my savings for all my life."
He said he decided to give the man $32,000, after being promised to receive $40,000 for his help.
The three men drove to the victim's house, where he picked up the money and gave it to the suspect. From there they went to a CVS to get paperwork and stamps the victim said he needed to claim his lottery winnings.
Then the man said he was sick and needed medicine and asked the victim to go inside a Family Dollar and get it.
"In that time, I came out, the car, it was gone, that's the time that I did realize. I couldn't believe it," the victim said.
Crime and safety analyst Gil Smith said the first red flag was someone saying he needed money to collect lottery winnings.
"Now for a legitimate lottery, you don't need any money there," Smith said. "You don't need to have money in order to collect winnings from the lottery."
It was a hard lesson for a man who said he was just trying to help.
Anyone with information in regards to the alleged scammer's identity or whereabouts is asked to contact the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office at 904-630-0500 or email the department atJSOCrimeTips@jaxsheriff.org. JSO said to remain anonymous and receive a possible reward up to $3,000, call Crime Stoppers at 866-845-TIPS.
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All that money laying around the house?? Wonder how old the victim is?
Defrauded by a confidence man with the promise of a $8,000 windfall!
I wish these articles would stop calling these people victims because they're not. Victims are usually forced into doing Something they don't want to do. Nobody forced him into anything. These people had control over what they were doing when they willfully gave their $$ away. I don't know people with that kind of $ that gives it away without doing research about the person they are giving it to and usually avoid doing personal business transactions with strangers. Only time I got scammed was on informercials but at least I got my $.back minus shipping fees lol.
And people are born with common sense so I dont know why they didn't use it other than to be greedy and dreamy.
Handing over your life savings because you thought u were helping out a Christian? Lol. Yea ok..... Where can I find these kind of generous idiots to help me out? I would love to accept someone's life savings. Anyone here feel like giving away their life savings????
Please get in touch with me asap!
He is not a victim, he is a fool!
Sweet Jesus. How can people still be this stupid, gullible, and naive in this day and age. Don't they listen to the news to know what goes on in the world
If everyone was a Lottery Post reader, this would never be an issue. But alas...
There's a sucker born in every minute - PT Barnum
Definition of a victim, per Merriam-Webster:
a person who has been attacked, injured, robbed, or killed by someone else
: a person who is cheated or fooled by someone else
: someone or something that is harmed by an unpleasant event (such as an illness or accident)
Though the term victim often is associated with the first degree of distinction, as the second statement indicates, force is not a requirement to be a victim. So, indeed they ARE victims.
I agree, common sense would prevent such events, however it does not displace the facts of someone being cheated or fooled by someone else, making them a victim.
What's old is new and vice-versa.
This sounds like a version of the pigeon drop scheme.
Back in the 70s I lived near 5th & Olney, a shopping district in Philly.
The scammers there did something called "the pigeon drop scheme"
In the scheme there's always a 3rd party ( the guy w/the $8G ) willing to help but doesn't have enough,
he also appears to not know the other scammer.
This tricks the victim into thinking, that if he trusts the guy w/ the problem, w/ his money, then it must be OK.
In the pigeon drop all 3 go to the bank where the scammers pretend to deposit the money,
telling the victim it will be safe there and giving him a fake receipt.
Really they bought a small money order or something to make it look like a real transaction.
This happened quite frequently and they never ran out of victims and were never caught.
There are many variations.
Tuff tties.
Sad as this is: This has everything to do with GREED.The victim has no one but himself to blame for his lack of vision.
* Wow, this poor guy wins the Lottery and can't cash his ticket, well hey l am a Christian, l have cash laying around the house.." unused " l know how l can come out ahead in a major way...hmm, what l will do is " help this guy out" by giving him my hard earned cash while l collect these Millions off him! -GREED! !
Fraud is the most prevalent crime in America!
"he had a winning lottery ticket and needed $40,000 to collect the total winnings." That rose a red flag for me. I could understand if the guy said I'm out of gas and I can't reach the lottery retailer to collect my winnings. I don't want my family to find out because their all money grubbers. Me, if a guy approached me like that. I would've wanted to fully research the winning ticket. I ran into a paraplegic the other day at a truck stop. He needed money for gas. The problem was, his legs were amputated from the knee caps. I was like, "how do you need gas money and you can't even reach the gas pedals?" He said, "Oh, it's for my friend who is at the pump." I was thinking, well, why isn't he over here asking for gas money. I just walked off.
That was the correct response. Don't fall for no shyster, especially, those Charity shysters, they are the worse. I had a woman call, wanting a donation for the families of fallen police officers. I asked her, what percentage of my donation will go to the family? She replied, ten percent, slam, hung up. BTW, I have 2 brothers living in S.c. One in Lancaster, the other in Cheraw. Welcome to LP!!!
Lottery winners understand how to use the word,"NO". A powerful two letter word.
Hi, what's your name? "mr doomass.....Hi mr DUMB A$$
You are so correct, and I hate that I can tell that some of my charities sold my phone # to other charities, particularly my animal charities. My least favorite was cancer awareness. Their phone calls were almost harassing in nature. I finally called them back and left a message that I will never donate one dime and to stop calling. Then there's this jackass from E. KY calling for some police or sheriff's fundraiser. Always calls here with the wrong name.
I don't care what Merriam's dictionary says, the dictionary "used" to say that marriage was between 1 man and 1 woman. Now it doesn't say that. These people are not victims they are "fools" look that definition up. If anything the so called victims are the scammers to me because they were willing to take advantage by taking the ticket for monetary gains. If he was such a good Christian and trusting he should have helped with the paperworks and drive him to the nearest lottery office or retailer....and last time I checked cvs didn't sell lotteries at least not in my town. I'm sure he wasn't new to playing the lottery either otherwise he wouldn't have been so fast to give away his savings to gain $8000 that he still would have had to pay taxes on lol.
Everything about this story made me chuckle.... esp the part to make himself look innocent and by saying he is a good Christian trying to help....Lol good Christians first of all dont play the lottery. God's laws forbid chasing get rich quick schemes.... any " good Christian" knows that!
I hate when someone calls me about donating to their charity and ask how much do I have to donate I ask them how much do they have to donate to me. Lol They usually hang up on me. I dont donate my money to phone calls. I send my money to real humans and to real organizations of my choice.
I don't want to fall "victim" of a telephone scam.
When you plan on donating do your homework. Check the legitimacy and history of the organization.
When you give then give anonymously. The receiver will not know who gave and will not track you down for more gifts.
When are people going to learn if you need to pay money to claim a prize, it's a scam pure and simple.
I've read there's another scam involving altered lottery tickets that reminds me of this one. A guy claims he has a winning lottery ticket, but doesn't want to claim it himself because he's in the country illegally and doesn't want to get deported. He offers to sell the ticket at near face value, but when the purchaser goes to claim it, it's a forgery. I wonder if that was going on here too.
Let me get this straight: $32,000 is every single penny you have in the world. It's not in an insured bank account collecting interest, it's not even in a safety deposit box. It's in your house, so that tells me that you don't trust banks. But you trust a total stranger you met that day, not only to hand over your life savings, but to be at your house.
When was the last time anyone brought a total stranger back to their house (in this case, 2 total strangers) and made it clear to them that large sums of cash at are kept at said house.
Forget the scam.for a minute and think about just that.
Sorry, I can't classify this guy as a victim. I don't see how the "victim" definition covers this scenario.
If he isn't mentally challenged then he was simply a person blinded by greed. This was the equivalent of an unsecured investment. He put up money in the hopes of getting a substantially large return, with no proof, no documented paperwork, not even an ID check. He took a shot and it backfired. As they said in Matchstick Men, they cannot scam an honest person.
I think this is a very lucky individual. His ass could have been killed for crying out loud.
IKR??? How could he possibly have taken these guys to his house?
thank you.... finally somebody that gets it, he is truly not a victim. I like the way u worded it "unsecured investment" lol....
I get that he was fooled, and I get that the police classify this as a scam, but if you add common sense into the equation, would you still consider him a victim?
If you give $5 to a panhandler and he spends it on liquor instead of food, were you scammed? There was no force or even coercion. Does his lie relegate you to the rank of "victim" or do give knowing full well that it may not go towards food, but you just hope that it will? I personally believe that when you opt to willingly (and gladly) turn over money to a total stranger with absolutely no supporting documentation that would legally require its return to you, it's tantamount to a monetary gift, regardless of what verbal promises are made. The only reason it's even an issue is because of the amount involved.
yes less then versed ppl use the victim blaming stance. Those who cannot comprehend- blame.
I tend to see this as a scam and it hit its target. Bernie Madof carried out his with wealthy people. Guess it goes to show that money buys neither wisdom or intelligence. That you'll find thru life and experiences...
As I stated, common sense was lacking but he IS still a victim, even though some may say greedy, who knows, but a victim none the less. Yes he may have been thinking of the money he thought he was going to capitalize on but how in the world does this dismiss the victim aspect. The panhandler scenario is not a comparative analogy. By giving $5 to a panhandler there is no expectation of the money being returned. Thus, completely irrelevant to a victim status.
I cannot feel sorry anymore for stupidity. If you are too stupid and too greedy to see your way past people than i do not know what to say anymore. There has been enough news reports, enough said on tv shows and newspapers, enough said on shows like 60 minutes, 20/20 and dateline, it has been reported on Dr. Phil, Oprah and Phil Donahue and Merv Griffith, it has been on all local news stations and radio stations and unless you live under a rock or in a card board box you are too stupid to be alive in this day and age. Yes it is harsh but you cannot go through life always being a victim.
People this is not a time to trust anyone not even family anymore. Greedy as overtaken ethics and morality and it is time to say go away. I do not even give money to organizations because they spend it more on salaries than helping people, I do not give it to pan handlers because they want drugs or alcohol, if I am going to do something nice i go into a grocery store and pay for someone's food cart. But even than if I see something in the cart like beer or cigarettes or junk food I do not pay. I watch what I do with my hard earned money and being stupid is not one of them. People need to grow up and act responsible instead of acting irresponsible.
Would I give money to this person because he was duped. No. Did he make a huge misjudgement/mistake. Yes. You mention morality, which involves society values. I can't believe members of our LP family are so quick to malign someone because they did something that many find "stupid", though I prefer the term lacking common sense. I agree with acting responsible and one accepting they erred in judgement, even if greed was a motive, but should they be stoned for their mistake?
This scam is at least 2000 years old.
You gave your life savings to a perfect stranger you just met earlier that day. What in the world were you thinking?
I suppose it's easier when speaking with scammers, but some of the emails look real, especially to the more gullible players.
Congratulations
This is to inform you that your E-mail address has been selected as one of our annual online Mega Millions Lottery winner.
Our regional Representative are pleased to inform you of the result of our annual Electronic Email Address ballot system of Mega Millions International Lottery Promotion held in Asia 2015
Winner RefNo: Mega2015RBAASIA101
Your email was selected among the winners of $1,000,000.00USD of the Mega Millions Lottery Organization. For more details on how to redeem your prize, contact our coordinator on the Email address below with your information.
Fullname:
Address:
Phone:
Fax:
Email:
Coordinator: Clement Cole
Mega Millions Lottery
Organization Email: clement_cole@aol.com
Should they be stoned for their mistake?
Hell, if that's the kind of weed available, "I'll have what he's having."
But seriously, Teddi stated it well - just by bringing these two thieves to his house was a potentially fatal mistake. He's lucky that they only took his money. And, yeah, what's with the 32G sitting around in the change jar at the house?
As Bugs Bunny would say, "What an ultra maroon."
But you are also correct in stating that he is still a victim nonetheless. But he's still an ultra maroon.
I just can't find it in my heart to feel sorry for this guy, he wasn't doing this out of the goodness of his heart, he did this because he was greedy. Had he been told the con wanted to borrow his $32,000 and he would return it ( $32,000 ) after he cashed his ticket, would he have been so helpful, no.
It was I'll give you $8,000 in the time it takes for con to cash his lottery in. Fast $8,000. Well now you know, you can't get something for nothing. How many years did it take you to save $32,000, because of your greed and fast money, you lost it in a day?
Look, if I didn't buy a ticket, then it's a scam. How would these people get your Email to put it in a lottery? Look up at the address box in your email, does it say BCC, then that tells me there are unknown number of people getting this same email saying you won a 100 million dollars. Use that brain of your to save yourself. Mega Million start at 15 million dollars I think, it sure ain't 1 million. Any scammer getting my hard earned money will have to pry it out of my cold dead hand.
sorry ... but usally i feel bad for people who get victimized but this guy was just a flat out idiot , so much so im having a hard time even believing itactually happened
WOW
"the man approached the victim, saying he had a winning lottery ticket and needed $40,000 to collect the total winnings." That's when I would have gone the other way muttering "scam, scam, scam" as I got away from him.
I have been wondering, how long it will take, before a forward thinking criminally inclined individual, will exploit this phenomenon of undocumented immigrants with "winning lottery ticket{s}" looking for somebody to help{exploit} them cash the "winning ticket{s}". First and foremost, this moron is not a true christian. He saw an opportunity to exploit somebody that "had no papers, don't speak english" and most likely in his mind gullible and afraid of being deported. His greed propelled him to risk his life just for a few grands. In this case common sense was put on the shelf while greed and stupidity took control of his faculties. This individual is neither a christian nor a victim and his actions spoke loud and clear. Like I said before, he is lucky that his stupid greedy ass did not get decapitated. Now the guy who tried to victimize an "undocumented immigrant" is trying to portray himself as the victim. PURE BULL CRAP
.
What concerns me now is the scammer(s) now where he lives and that he had a wad of cash in the house. would not be surprised if they return demanding more. He may end up in concrete like that other Florida lottery winner did...scary.
Good approach, or how about "Yes I do have $40,000 from an inheritance but it is tied up with the attorney. I need $7,999 to pay the attorney fees so I can get the money released. If we take the money we have, the $8,000, it's just enough for me to wire to the attorney and then I'll be able to give the full amount. How does that sound?".
The scammers know where he lives & that he had a stash of money at his home because this Greedy Idiot told them so.Mr Shakespeare had the mental capacity of a child, l have no idea about this guy but he sure is not the brightest crayon in the box. You right, he could have ended up dead or tortured into telling them where the " rest of his stash was". Can you imagine telling these guys to take a seat in the living room while he goes into the bedroom and gets the cash? They probably did a mental inventory of his furniture etc with hopes of making a follow up visit.
Mr Moneybags said that this guy who conned him " sounded desperate"....you think? All that this story has done is highlighted this person to be an Imbecile. Todd was right, had this person or others been readers of LP on a regular basis- they would have seen a con coming from a thousand yards away.
** Moral of the Story: By all means do business at Home Depot, hand your money over to the store clerk for items you purchased- Not some stranger who approaches you with a " winning lottery ticket" hoping to make you a Millionaire. Tell them to go to the nearest Bank where there is lots of cash on hand & strike up a deal with them.
Of course it's a scam, but not everyone knows that MM does not hold "annual E-mail address drawings". It only takes one out of 10,000 to believe it's real regardless of all the obvious red flags found throughout the email.
I won't be contacting their coordinator for details on how to collect "my" $1 million nor will I blame the scammers when the real blame is on the people selling the list of email addresses. This article is about a different type of scam, but the common denominator is still the victim's greed.
This victim is quite lucky. He could have been raped, then murdered AND also have his life savings taken.
Unlike most of the heartless people here on this thread, I do have some empathy for this man. You all say he is greedy, but you all play the lottery because you are all greedy too.
If only somewhere in the bible, it warned about the dangers of men (and women) who speak with forked tongues, dark souls and cold black hearts.
Wow, first this crime was not sexual, it was totally for money. Yes the con found the perfect con-E who's greedy butt left the store and seemingly his ride to get in a car with two strangers to take them to his home to give them $32,000 of his money, in return they would give him $8,000 for the use of his money. As others have said he's lucky to be alive and he have Boo Boo the fool stamped all over him.
We lottery players use our hard earned money to buy our tickets, we know what the payout will be if we win, so what's so greedy about that? I'm not speaking for the people you bought tickets for.
Also the bible say " do unto others as you would have them do unto you, " so you won't mine if I say I think some people are heartless, greedy, forked tongued dark soul with a cold black heart, now would you?
100% agree!
Fine. Let's say the panhandler said to you "I promise that when I get back on my feet, I'll pay you back". NOW it's pretty much the same thing. If he doesn't give you that money back after landing a job, are you a victim? If I considered myself a victim for every time I've loaned money to family/friends and never got it back, I'd be a perpetual victim. I'm not calling the cops or suing. I just don't give money to that person ever again. Nor do I ever give what I can't afford to lose. The way I see it is that if I really consider it a loan or was serious about getting it back, I'd demand collateral and/or a notarized IOU.
But...the minute you enter into a monetary transaction with no supporting documentation, then it's less scam and more wishful thinking. Why? Because there was no coercion, no blackmail, no threat, no forged documents. There's just some stranger in a store saying "if you give me $32,000 right now, I'll give you $40,000 in a few hours".
I highly recommend not opening up any suspicious emails.
1) They are probably phishing.
2) Most likely they contain viruses.
3) LP lottery players are too smart to fall for these schemes.
Still waiting for the scam lottery phone call. Had a blast with the IRS one.
He's lucky it wasn't me. I would said sure get in then drove him straight to the INS building.
Unbelievable people are still falling for the okie dok.The oldest scam in the books.
Is this guy Forrest Gump?
I too have a hard time believing this story. This itself might be the actual scam. Think about it: "poor me, I was just trying to show Christian charity, and lost $32,000". Suddenly a fund is set up to replace the money through small donations. And that's where this guy scams other people out of their money; the guys who supposedly scammed this "victim" are in in it as well and get a cut. Either this guy is so f-ing stupid that he deserves this fate, or he's scamming others. The skeptic in me says the latter.